The Sun Always Rises
by themindofmine
Summary: The sun rising brings a new day and new drama. Rescues, weddings and new relationships bloosem on and around the Rangers mountain home.
1. Chapter 1

The Sun Always Rises

Chapter One

Sunrise was always her favorite time of the day. It was always quiet at the station around the same time. Anything that happened over night was usually cleaned up by the time the sun started to peak over the horizon and the mountain was at peace. Home was sometimes a different story. Most mornings when the sun started shinning so started the day of the two little girls who slept upstairs. Today they were still asleep. Jess Hawkes sipped her coffee as she watched the sun slowly make its way higher into the blue sky. She felt his presents before she felt his arms wrap around her waist.

"Good morning, stranger." Jess leaned back against the warm body that was her husband.

"How was your night?" He kissed her neck and pulled her close.

"The girls slept thought the night and they are still sleeping, so I guess it was a good night." Turning she kissed her husband. "How was yours?" She knew they had gone on a call close to midnight. She had been awakened by something. Maybe it was a sound or maybe it was the feeling she got when one of her loved ones was headed toward danger.

"Five car pileup on I-89 near Rampart." Derek was still shocked with every accident call they got on the mountain roads. Speed was always a factor. The faster they went, the worse the outcome. "Three dead." Jess hugged him, burring her face in his chest. She knew even after years of profiling serial killers that every death still affected him. In some ways that was a good thing. If you stopped letting them get to you then you have a problem.

"Devin won't be here till eight. I could make you some toast. I think me and that silver thing on the counter have made peace." Jess would never be the greatest cook but she tried.

"I would rather spend the time we have right here." Jess smiled and they turned to watch the sun slowly rise over the horizon. Derek hugged her close and breathed in the sweet scent of his wife. "I love you Jessie Lynn."

"I love you too Derek." Jess closed her eyes and wished every morning could be like today but she knew it wasn't always going to be all sunrises and sweet morning kisses.

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The sweat poured off her forehead as she ran though the meadow. She had left her horse near the creek when the shot rang out. She knew what the poachers were looking for. Baily and his family had been hanging around the cabin since the wild dog scare last year. They had been safe because only people who knew about them had been around the cabin in over a year. Now strangers threatened the small pack of wolves that she had been protecting.

"Flying Tiger to Lady Hawke." Jess's radio crackled to life. She grabbed it off her belt as she hit the porch of her father's cabin.

"Matt, I lost Cutler somewhere between the creek and the cabin. These guys mean business."

"Cody is ready to fly at first light. Hang in there. Cutler is doubling back near Gabe's." Jess let out a whistle that would wake the dead but as she opened the door five wolves were at her feet and plowed into the cabin. She locked the door and slid down it taking a deep breath. The big alfa wined as she opened her eyes. "We're safe for now boy." She looked at the rag tag pack that had survived on of the worse winters on record. Baily had been found and tagged by the rangers as a pup. Last year he had imprinted on a half breed female and had a litter of three puppies. The female they named Hannah and the pups were Larry, Curly and Monica.

"We are at the cabin Matt. I don't think he was following us because we back tracked though the river three or four times." Jess grabbed Baily and hugged him close. All five wolves growled when the sound of a branch breaking echoed though the cabin. Footsteps echoed on the porch.

"Jess open up." Cutler's voice echoed through the door. Jess stood up and unlocked the door. Deep growls radiated from behind her.

"It's okay, it's just Cutler." Baily growled louder. "OH STOP. He stepped on your tail one time and you hold a grudge." Jess opened the door and let the older man in. "Welcome to the party." She stepped back and let him in.

"Those guys are crazy." Cutler looked at the five fur balls. "Y'all should have eaten the bastards." The three pups pushed though and pounced on Cutler. "They missed me." He bent down and gave attention to the animals. Jess crossed her arms and shook her head.

"Kids love you." She smiled. Her best friend had a way with the younger set weather they had fur or not. The kids flocked to him at family functions and he even took hours in the daycare co-op. "Have you talked to Randa about having kids?" He looked up at her with his piercing blue eyes. She knew it was a touchy subject. When they had dated, she had wanted to get pregnant but it never happened.

"I'm getting a little too old to be someone's dad."

"You're never too old. Look at Matt." Her brother and sister in law were in the last stages of adopting two children whose parents died on a camping trip in the mountains.

"Yeah, remember how that started out." Robin had a few misgivings when the subject of adopting two young children only weeks after they got married. It had taken a few weeks but she came around and now they are one big happy family.

"Not every family starts out with wine and roses."

"A lot start out with beer and pretzels." Cutler chuckled. Jess smiled. It had been a long time since the two of them had time to talk. Between his training his search and rescue dog and working on his relationship with Randa and her new job as wife and mother they just hadn't had much time together.

"It's amazing you aren't the father of dozens of children." Jess went to the kitchen to see if there was anything to feed the wolves. She pulled out a bag of her dad's beef jerky stash and passed out a little to each of the wolfs.

"Honey, you should know better than anyone that I was more than careful over the years." Jess boosted herself up on the counter. The pups curled around Cutler's feet and Baily and Hannah laid on the floor under her feet.

"Let me know when you want to go ring shopping." She smiled.

"You think you know me so well, don't you?" He looked into her eyes. They danced with mischief.

"I know you better than anyone and I know I have never seen you look at anyone, even me, like you look at her Jimmy." She looked out the big bay window and saw the sun was starting to come up. "Cody will be here with back up soon so let's has this out. You love her, right?" Cutler dropped his head and shook it.

"You know I do. Look at my track record Jess. You were the closest thing I had to a normal, healthy relationship." He looked up at her. "That's what scares me." Jess chuckled.

"Yeah that is kind of messed up. But you were the same for me till Derek. We don't fight over little things or make each other crazy like you and I did. Do you and Randa fight, ever?"

"No, the only thing we fight over is what to order on our pizza." He smiled. "I don't want to break her heart like I broke yours,"

"Is the International Ski Federation having a competition I don't know about? Because the only Swedish skier I know of is married to my brother and I'm sure you wouldn't mess with her." He raised his hands and shook his head.

"Not even on my worst night of drinking." Jess looked at her friend.

"You haven't even glanced at another woman since that day at the bar, have you?" She hadn't been with him that much over the last six months but she knew she was right. He grinned and smiled. Jess had fallen hard for his dimpled smile back in the day.

"Hell, I haven't even thought of another woman since that day."

"We both have Saturday off. I will drop the girls off with my mom and dad and we are going to find the perfect ring."

"Isn't going ring shopping with your ex a little on strange side?" Cutler chuckled.

"Not any stranger than your ex marring you and your husband." She said, reminding him of his involvement in her wedding.

"I guess not." The sound of the helicopter had Jess pushing herself off the counter.

"So, it's settled then." She watched at the sun hit the horizon and smiled. Matt and Robin came up the trail with two men in hand cuffs. With every new day came a good reason to watch the sun rise and set on this mountain. Today, two dangerous men will be put behind bars and a wolf family can go on living in peace. Also, James Alvin Cutler made a decision that would change his life forever. Jess opened the door and let the five furry beasts out to run. They took off strait for Matt, knowing he would have beef jerky for them. The men cringed as the wild animals ran toward them.

"You should have put the jerky in their pockets." Jess headed toward the helicopter, stopping next to the men. "You made me run. You were this close…" She made a tiny opening between her thumb and forefinger. "to having me feed you to those wolves." Jess stomped off, leaving the rest of the team to deal with the poachers and the wolves while she enjoyed the sunrise from the comfort of the helicopter.


	2. Chapter 2

The Sun Always Rises

Chapter Two

Cody Hawkes rolled over to find a little foot in his face. He smiled and opened his eyes. His wife was on the other side of the little feet smiling.

"She can sneak into here better than you." Sarah whispered.

"She needs to learn to sleep with her head on the pillow." Cody chuckled. He pushed the tiny feet under the pillow and looked at his wife. "Good morning." He whispered.

"Good morning." She smiled. "How was your night?"

"Cold. Lonely." He brushed a strand of blond hair off her forehead.

"Benji doesn't let you spoon him on training trips anymore?" Cody shook his head.

"You're so not funny, woman." He looked into her eyes. "You know Benji likes to hog the covers." He leaned over and kissed her. "We headed off the mountain early." The little feet twisted and kicked him in the face. He shifted, got up and took the little dark haired girl out from under the covers and quietly took her into her own bed and tucked her in. He went back to his warm bed and even warmer wife to find her gone. He heard babbling coming from the baby monitor. Shaking his head, he headed to help Sarah with the twins. He was hoping for a little love before the sun came all the way up but the boys had different plans.

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"Jess please." Matt Hawkes sat behind his desk and pleaded with his sister.

"Why me?" She had her arms crossed over her chest and glared at him. It was too early in the morning to pick a fight but she hadn't had a good argument lately and this seemed like as good a time as any to start one.

"Because you have the know-how and the time." How could she argue with that? She hated when Matt squashed a good fight before it started.

"Why don't you come with me. Two people can get it done faster and then we can sneak up the mountain for a little skiing." There was some good fresh powder on Needle Peak. Matt looked at the woman across from him.

"The whole idea of you taking the training class is so I don't have to go." He really would love at least one run before the busy season. Jess was like a kid in a candy store when she talked about skiing. They had to teach a bunch of rookies from surrounding areas about what they did and when to call them for back up. It was an hour, maybe two out of the day. A good run down Needle Peak would do them both some good. "I guess I could put off the budget for another couple of hours." Jess smiled. She knew it wouldn't take much to make him see that they needed this.

"Meet you back here at nine." She grabbed her coat and headed into the kitchen and grabbed a cup of coffee before she headed out the door. It was a beautiful morning and it wasn't long before she walked through her front door. Derek was standing in the kitchen, talking and flipping pancakes.

"Your mama is on her way ladies. She is going to be so glad you both are up and raring to go. I will feed her and then the three of you can spend some quality time together while daddy catches up on the sleep you didn't think he needed last night." Jess hung her bag and coat up and went into the kitchen,

"Long night Ranger Morgan?" He looked so damn sexy standing there shirtless with a pancake turner in his hand.

"Oh, baby you don't know the half of it." The two little girls giggled and kicked in their bouncy seats. "Thing One decided two a.m. was the best time to have a complete and udder blow out. While I was dealing with that Thing Two decided she would projectile vomit her last feeding." Jess perused her lips trying not to laugh. "Then they both were hungry. I fed them burped them and then they decided that three a.m. is a good time to play with daddy even though daddy just got off a thirty six hour shift from hell." The whole time he talked in a chipper happy voice and was smiling like a crazy fool. "And do you know what Jess?" She cleared her throat.

"No, Derek. Tell me." He put pancakes on a plate and handed them to her.

"I wouldn't of changed one minute of it. "He leaned over and kissed her. "How was your night?"

"Quiet. Well not really. There were some poachers near the east meadow. They were after Baily and his family." She took a bite of her pancakes. "They made me run." Derek looked at her with a worried expression. "I was perfectly safe." He doubted his wife was telling him the whole truth but he knew better then to call her out on it.

"Good to know." He leaned over and kissed her. "What time is Devin coming today?"

"I'm going to meet her at the daycare at eight. I told Matt that I would go with him to do some rookie training in town."

"We don't have any rookies."

"Every six months the surrounding counties and the CHP send us their rookies to us to train in the three W's. What we do. When to call us. Why they call us." She took another bite of her pancakes. She closed her eyes as she chewed and swallowed. "These are some awesome pancakes." He smiled.

"Glad you like them." He looked at his wife. Her eyes told him what she wouldn't. She had a hard night. Jess would never admit she was scared to anyone, not even him.

"I had to leave Beckum to fend for himself. That damn horse just wanted to run up that damn mountain. We need to take a day and take both our horses on an overnighter before it gets too cold."

"Honey it's already too cold but if you want to sleep in a snowbank, I'm in." Jess smiled. She loved her husband more and more every day.

"You are such a pushover." She leaned over and kissed him. He took her in his arms and pulled her closer.

"Tell anyone that and I will deny ever even knowing you Jessie Lynne Hawkes." She laughed and put her arms around his neck.

"It will be just between you and me." The girls giggled and bounced at their feet. "Okay, you, me, and them." If every morning could be like this one.

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Matt Hawkes stood in front of a class room full of men and woman half his age. He remembered when he was fresh out of law school and working on his criminal justice degree and just wanted to make a different.

"My team now consists of twenty men and woman with varying degrees and back grounds. We have criminalists, phycologists, profilers. We have Rangers who have degrees in sociology, anthropology, communications, foreign languages, political science, meteorology, forensic sciences and those are the ones I remember." Matt stepped back and Jess stepped up.

"We speak a total of fourteen different languages. Η περιοχή Lake Tahoe έχει τουριστών από όλο τον κόσμο." The class looked utterly confused. "It is Greek for 'The Lake Tahoe area has tourist from all around the world.' Each day at roll call you will get a sheet." Jess held up a paper. "It will tell you several things depending on the day. During the week, it should have the direct number of the head Ranger for your shift. It will have a list of languages we can interpret. Unless they are on vacation or specifically request not to be paged they are on the list. We have one helicopter pilot on duty during our shift and one on call. If you have a bad wreck on the highway and you need another chopper we will back you up one way or another. Also on the list is our duty roster and our specialties. So, if you need a someone extra to tag and bag a crime scene, if we have a CSI on duty and we're not using him or her, you are welcome to give us a call. If you have an accident and you need an accident reconstruction, we are there for you." A man in front of her raised his hand. "Deputy Johnson?"

"If you have all this talent why do they have us?" Jess looked at her brother. Matt raised is eyebrows.

"You want to take this big brother?" He stood up.

"These mountains communities need law enforcement. The mountains cover two states. That's a lot of people. We originally started out as a mountain rescue team. Over the years, the Rangers we hired brought more to the table then just being able to repel down mountains. My dad founded the Rangers but over the years we built a team of experts. People who not only can repel down the mountain but predict if there will be an avalanche or blizzard. We still need each one of you on patrol to make sure people are slowing down so they don't go over a cliff and have to have us come and pull them up. I can't emphasis enough that we don't want your jobs we just want to make them easier."

"Just know we have your backs." Jess looked at the men and women in front of her. They were barley legal. She remembered when she was a rookie. She still felt like every call, every person she rescued changed things for the good. "Serve and Protect girls and boys…that's all we can do."

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Matt looked at his sister. She was lying in the snow making snow angles and giggling like a child. He shook his head and smiled.

"You are insane." He released his boots from his skis and loaded them into the truck along with his sisters.

"I think I am saner then I have been in a year." She boosted herself onto her elbows and looked up at the bright sunshine. "I needed that." Getting up, Jess looked at her brother. "Thank you, Matt.,"

"For what?" They loaded the rest of the gear.

"For giving me today." Jess leaned against the truck. "Is it wrong that for just that fifteen minutes I felt like I didn't have a care in the world."

"Sometimes we need that." They got into the truck. "I kind of felt the same way." He started the truck. "Let's make a pact. Once a month, we take one run down the mountain. I don't care if we have fake a budget meeting with the Sheriff to do it."

"Deal." Jess smiled. The day had been good. They took two dangerous men off the mountain, taught some rookies a thing or two and ended it in a run down the mountain. Smiling she put her sunglasses on and they headed for home.


End file.
